A Sony Pictures Classics Release Armada Films and Why Not Productions present OF GODS AND MEN A film by Xavier Beauvois Starring Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale France's official selection for the 83rd Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2010 Official Selections: Toronto International Film Festival | Telluride Film Festival | New York Film Festival Nominee: 2010 European Film Award for Best Film Nominee: 2010 Carlo di Palma European Cinematographer, European Film Award Winner: Grand Prix; Ecumenical Jury Prize - 2010Cannes Film Festival Winner: Best Foreign Language Film, 2010 National Board of Review Winner: FIPRESCI Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival www.ofgodsandmenmovie.com Release Date (NY/LA): 02/25/2011 | TRT: 120 min MPAA: Rated PG-13 | Language: French East Coast Publicist West Coast Publicist Distributor Sophie Gluck & Associates Block-Korenbrot Sony Pictures Classics Sophie Gluck Ziggy Kozlowski Carmelo Pirrone 124 West 79th St. Melody Korenbrot Lindsay Macik New York, NY 10024 110 S. Fairfax Ave., Ste 310 550 Madison Avenue Phone (212) 595-2432 Los Angeles, CA 90036 New York, NY 10022 [email protected] Phone (323) 634-7001 Phone (212) 833-8833 Fax (323) 634-7030 Fax (212) 833-8844 SYNOPSIS Eight French Christian monks live in harmony with their Muslim brothers in a monastery perched in the mountains of North Africa in the 1990s. When a crew of foreign workers is massacred by an Islamic fundamentalist group, fear sweeps though the region. The army offers them protection, but the monks refuse. Should they leave? Despite the growing menace in their midst, they slowly realize that they have no choice but to stay… come what may. This film is loosely based on the life of the Cistercian monks of Tibhirine in Algeria, from 1993 until their kidnapping in 1996. PREAMBLE In 1996 the kidnapping and murder of the seven French monks of Tibhirine was one of the culminating points of the violence and atrocities in Algeria resulting from the confrontation between the government and extremist terrorist groups that wanted to overthrow it. The disappearance of the monks – caught in a vise between both sides- had a great and long-lasting effect on the governments, religious communities and international public opinion. The identity of the murderers and the exact circumstances of the monks’ deaths remain a mystery to this day. The case was taken up by a French court in 2003. Certain documents were recently declassified. In the upcoming months, new revelations may finally bring the truth to light. ABOUT THE FILM By screenwriter Etienne Comar OF GODS AND MEN is loosely based on the Tibhirine tragedy. It explores the last few months in the life of this small community of Christian monks in a “Muslim land.” The film is more interested in capturing the spirit of the events and what was at stake in the community than in recounting the exact details of a historic reality. The story begins several weeks before the terrorists issued an ultimatum ordering all foreigners to leave the country. An armed terrorist group even broke into the monastery on Christmas Eve. The monks’ dilemma, dormant until that point, is now clear: stay or leave? The decision must be made as a group. But for them, the choice of going or staying, despite the threats, is laden with consequences. When they refuse military protection, the government asks them to return to France. Each monk will make his decision by assessing the human, political and religious stakes and by plumbing the depths of his soul and conscience. This dramatic tension 2 accompanies the practical and mystical daily life of the community: their deep ties to the villagers and the spirit of peace and charity with which they try to counter the violence eating away at the country. OF GODS AND MEN bears witness to the reality of the monks’ commitment and the strength of the message of peace they wish to share by staying among their Muslim brothers: the possibility of a fraternal and spiritual common ground between Christianity and Islam. The monks call the army “the brothers of the plain” and the terrorists “the brothers of the mountain.” Far from naïve, they were aware they were walking a fine line between two sides with ambiguous positions. Xavier Beauvois’ film adopts the point of view of the monks and the rhythm of life in a Cistercian monastery. Throughout Europe, OF GODS AND MEN is critically acclaimed and a huge box-office success in France. MONASTIC SONGS: CHOIR OF MEN, HEART OF GOD By Henry Quinson, monastic advisor Besides Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake during the monks’ last supper, OF GODS AND MEN rests solely on the music of hymns and psalms. Songs were initially decisive during the shoot’s preparatory stage: initiated and directed in Paris by choir master François Polgar, the actors were progressively transformed by the words and the musical tonality of these songs. Above all, they started to become a community. During the press conference in Cannes, Lambert Wilson expressed it clearly: “Through songs that elevate and unite us, we became brothers”. The singing scenes also helped give rhythm to the story. They first allow us to see and hear the monastic community during its most frequent and regular activity: the seven daily offices, in other words, four hours of singing a day. “To chant psalms”, confides actor Olivier Rabourdin “is to breathe together, to share the Breath of Life”. Afterwards, the proposed repertory sticks to the brothers’ life and thus expresses their questions, their fears and their faith, as they relate directly to the increasingly serious events that are shaking the monastery and the region. The enemy persecutes my soul He has smitten my life to the ground 3 He has made me dwell in darkness with those long dead My spirit grows faint within me My heart within me, dismayed (Psalm 142) Lastly, the monks’ choir is the heart of God. This chorus intervenes as it would in a Greek tragedy, as a theological and spiritual commentary of the action. The songs give God words, and God gives his Spirit of communion and peaceful resistance to the monks who are caught up in the turmoil of an increasingly menacing and problematic violence. To the worrisome drone of a helicopter whirring above the monastery, the community opposes a mystical and disarmed hope: The shadows, for you are not shadows For you, night is as clear as day. The military apparatus disappears, but the question lingers: should one stay or leave? The community meetings will not suffice. The answer lies in the word of God, listened to, meditated upon and celebrated: Save us, Lord, whilst we watch! Keep us, Lord, whilst we sleep! And we shall watch with Christ And we shall rest in peace… Under the audience’s gaze, the monks sing their life and live their singing--to the extreme: Because he is with us in this time of violence, let us not dream that he is everywhere other than where we die. Let us make haste. Kidnappers and monks disappear in the snow and the fog. They all take on the color of the liturgical clothes in which the brothers prayed and sang. In the heart of winter, the paradoxical victory of Light: We do not see your face, Infinite Love, but you do have eyes for you weep through the oppressed and look upon us with a shining gaze that reveals your forgiveness 4 Interview with Lambert Wilson (Christian) “Music occupies an absolutely primordial place in my life. I think that I could have been a singer. In fact, it I had done a little work on myself before diving into theatrical studies, I think I would have most certainly extracted from myself this passion, which suits me better. I listen to vocal music very often, as well as to a lot of religious and liturgical music-- a lot of singing especially. Historically, since the time of the Greeks, singing - lyrical art - was always linked to the dramatic arts; unfortunately modern actors are no longer connected to singing. Today however, in theatre directing in particular, one speaks of rhythm, intonation, dynamics –- we are in fact using a lyrical vocabulary. I think music must be constantly integrated into an actor’s work. It is useful to me in my work, in order to prepare myself emotionally for certain scenes. Singing is organic, it is not intellectual-- it’s a feeling, an emotion, a physical action. It was singing that prepared us the most to perform these particular roles. During the shoot of another film, I began studying the scores we would be singing in OF GODS AND MEN. It was really during the classes with François Polgar that we began the real work, that the actors fused into a team and the community spirit began. The first interactions were a bit embarrassing because none of us were great singers, but it helped break the ice between us. As actors, it is because we had to work together on singing that it helped us become this community of monks. We had to fuse in some sort of higher level and reveal our own identities at the same time. For me, singing, besides the biographical work each of us did on our respective characters, is what constituted the essential foundation of our preparation. At the Tamié Abbey, where we went on a retreat, monks spend four hours a day singing during the seven religious offices. We all loved doing this work with multiple voices--it’s the principle of fusion in the choir.